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Friday, August 10, 2007

the wild boar

the kid's asleep, a good time to post. as you can see our little bundle of joy just passed 1 month! yikes, it does fly by. i'm off this week as my brother and his fam are in town from california and it feels like it's been forever since i've had a week off but then i realize i had a week and a half off only a few weeks ago when kate was born.

so we started a growth chart on our patio wall for kate. pretty tall for a one month old, wouldn't you say? the hair probably adds a few inches.

the wild boar title refers to how the kid eats. her head moves back and forth and her body is contorting in all weird directions, arms flying everywhere, hands in her face and mouth, making grunting and snorting noises. crazy! it's funny how kate's hands do move up to her mouth and face area a lot, when she's eating, stretching, whatever. (her post-waking, pre-meal stretch routine is pretty funny. i'll have to record it one day.) karen reminded me that when we tried to get the 4-d ultrasound done, she always had her hands and arms over her face so they could never get a good picture. what a waste. not really, honey, if you're reading! anyway, the boar reminds me of the "ravenous, ravenous rhinos" game on an episode of the simpsons, which of course is a knockoff of hungry, hungry hippos.

watching her sleep is interesting, too. she's a very active sleeper with her eyes all over the place, open at times, arms again flailing around, escaping the tight swaddle frequently. once i actually saw her eyes roll upward and then both of them roll outward away from her nose. didn't realize that was physiologically possible.

kate's startle reflex is always a source of entertainment. i'm actually getting savvy and have a link to youtube where i uploaded it. not the best example but pretty good.

here's another pic of kate's first full outing. we're at costco. can't see the baby too well. i utilized my own technique of flipping up the bottom of my shirt to cover her feet. gets a little cold in costco, you know. yeah, we could've used socks but we forgot them. as you can see, kate's sitting comfy in the baby bjorn which is possibly the greatest baby invention of all time. when the kid's in there, you hardly realize there's a baby. i even wanted to compile a list of things i could do with the bjorn that i couldn't do without, for example, folding clothes, making dinner, eating, typing on the computer, playing golf....

speaking of which, who says babies change your life? i can still check my email with a baby around...

since we're including videos, here's one of my niece kylie reading a bible verse. love my mom's expressions in the background.

one more pic of kate with one of her bedtime poses...

here's another with cousin kylie and eric, my bro's kids. there was actually one with the kids smiling better but i think goofy smiles make better pics with kids sometimes.

as far as being a dad, it is tough work! you feel so inadequate and helpless when the kid's crying even though she's been changed, burped, swaddled, etc. i'm always paranoid about whether she's had enough to eat. i guess that's the korean in me. i also worry about whether her bowels are moving properly which i guess is the doctor in me. karen worries about all the other stuff, i mainly care about whether she's eaten enough and if she's going to grow strong and smart. karen gets a little paranoid, too. she was in a sleepy haze one day and went to change kate and her diaper was surprisingly dry (which has only happened a few times) so karen was all panicky about kate being dehydrated because she read on the internet ("freakin' internet...") about dehydration and decreased number of wet diapers. i'm still laughing as i write this. anyway, when she's wailing and you're tired, it is very frustrating (as i'm sure karen can attest) but at the same time (well, maybe not at the exact same time) there is such a peaceful, comforting joy and happiness when i hold her and mess around with her tiny fingers and toes and watch her funny expressions. most of the time it's even funny to watch her expressions when she's crying because she has such a pouty-looking face and makes these funny meow-like sounds sometimes.

i guess i would be remiss if i didn't include an actual b-day pic. such a happy face....